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Bend Chamber Weekly E-News
May 10, 2007
By Jeff Nielson
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Deschutes
County moving ahead on jail
expansion
At a work session on Wednesday,
Deschutes County commissioners
agreed to move forward on a
remodel of the former work
release center and an eventual
expansion of the county jail
that will add about 260 beds to
the existing jail. That’s about
half the beds, at substantially
less cost, than an earlier
proposal estimated to cost about
$80 million. The sheriff’s
office will spend $16,000 for a
re-engineering study of the
scaled-back jail expansion
proposal, and commissioners
authorized County Administrator
Dave Kanner in the next fiscal
year to transfer up to $2.5
million from other county
accounts to begin funding
architectural drawings. An
architect will be chosen later
after a competitive bidding
process. County Sheriff Larry
Blanton and police chiefs from
both Bend and Redmond have
consistently told the commission
work needs to begin now to add
more jail beds to stop the
revolving-door reality of having
to release inmates early because
there’s no space to house them.
Kanner also was authorized to
begin talks with the city of
Redmond to sell them 215 acres
of county-owned land that is
within Redmond’s urban growth
boundary. The county would use
the proceeds to pay all or part
of the cost of the jail
expansion. The county also
hasn’t ruled out asking voters
to approve a bond measure of
undetermined amount sometime
next year to pay for the jail.
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FEMA awards Central Oregon $1
million to reduce wildfire risk
The Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) has announced a
proposal from Deschutes and
Crook counties to reduce
wildfire risk on public and
private land is expected to
receive just over $1 million
under the agency’s new
Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program.
Only four projects in Oregon
were funded in the national
competition, and the Central
Oregon project is the only one
to address the risks associated
with wildfire and to take a
regional approach to solving a
problem. The total cost of the
project is estimated at $1.35
million; the part not funded by
FEMA will be the value of labor,
equipment and supplies provided
as an in-kind contribution by
both counties, Project Wildfire,
Community Wildfire Planning
Committee members, private
property owners and volunteers.
FEMA received 470 applications
nationwide in this year’s
competition. Information:
322-7117. For information about
Project Wildfire: 382-1675.
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Has enforcement slowed down
Parkway traffic? Well, maybe
Last week’s survey question was,
“Have recent stepped-up
enforcement efforts made a
difference in getting traffic to
slow down on the Bend Parkway?”
Some people think yes, some
think no. Some responses:
“No, the speeds have not slowed down. You still can be
doing 55 in the left lane and
have somebody tailgating. The
grooves in the paving,
especially southbound, are
unsafe and inexcusable. This is
the only street I have driven on
where my car moves two feet to
the right or left without
touching the steering wheel …”
“Only when the police are there. The 45 mph limit is
too low, anyway. It’s a limited
access, divided highway. How
about we focus on school zones
where very few drivers obey
those limits?”
“We have observed no perceptible slowdown of traffic on
the Bend Parkway and have also
not seen any sign of increased
patrol.
Vehicles still aggressively buzz
along at 65+ mph, intimidating
other drivers by speeding up
behind them and riding their
bumpers, and merging recklessly
from side streets. A speed limit
of 45 mph is pretty low for a
parkway, and most drivers find
it comfortable at 50-55 mph.
However, until the cross streets
are blocked, I understand the
rationale. There are way too
many accidents at these
intersections.”
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New-home tax for schools gaining
steam at Legislature
The Oregon Senate today was
expected to pass a bill that
would allow school boards to
collect $1 for every square foot
of new housing built within
their districts, 50 cents for
every square foot of new
commercial space and 25 cents
per square foot for new
industrial construction. The
maximum amount that could be
collected per building is
$25,000. School districts could
use the money to build new
schools or repair and update
existing ones. The bill was
introduced by a dozen
legislators, including Sen. Ben
Westlund of Bend, to help
districts with rapidly growing
populations that are having
trouble building enough schools
to keep up with enrollment.
Although there is some
opposition, the bill also
appears to have enough support
to pass in the House, and Gov.
Ted Kulongoski has said he’ll
sign it. Oregon is one of the
few states in the West that
doesn’t have such a tax. The
Oregon Home Builders Association
supports the bill.
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This week’s survey question
Should a tax be imposed on new
construction in Oregon to help
pay for schools? (see item
above)
Please e-mail your
responses to:
jeff@bendchamber.org.
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